AU2007200234A1 - Improvement in production of honey comb - Google Patents

Description

P/00/011 Regulation 3.2

AUSTRALIA

Patents Act 1990 COMPLETE SPECIFICATION FOR A STANDARD PATENT

ORIGINAL

Name of Applicant: Actual Inventor: Address for Service: Invention Title: TO BE COMPLETED BY APPLICANT THE HONEY SHACK PTY LTD Eric William Smith CALLINAN LAWRIE, 711 High Street, Kew, Victoria 3101, Australia IMPROVEMENT IN APPARATUS FOR THE PRODUCTION OF HONEY COMB The following statement is a full description of this invention, including the best method of performing it known to us:- 19/01/07bl5 482 cap, I N FIELD OF THE INVENTION ctThis invention relates to apparatus for the production of honey comb and more particularly to apparatus for producing readily saleable portions of honey comb.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION While beekeeping has been intensively practiced for several hundred years there has been relatively little change in hive apparatus since the invention of the wax foundation and modem hive in the 1850s. The marketing of honey comb containing honey, or as it is otherwise known "comb honey", requires considerable care, attention and to-date inconvenience in provision and manipulation of the sections in which comb is to be formed by the bees. The term "comb honey" will be used throughout this specification to define honey comb-containing honey.

The production and processing of comb honey at present is very time consuming and labour intensive. The production of comb honey conventionally involves the following steps: 1. A timber bee frame consisting of four pieces, two end bars a top bar and a bottom bar, is nailed and glued together.

2. The frame is then wired with stainless steel wire.

3. A sheet of wax foundation put in the centre of the frame using a battery-powered wax embedder which melts the wax to the frame.

4. The frame is then placed in the hive and the bees build wax comb on the foundation base.

The comb is then filled with nectar that then becomes honey. The filled comb is then capped by the bees. (In some cases the bees only fill half the comb or they build it too far or not far enough out past the timber frame. The bees may also build comb to the opposite frame. This means it is not able to be sold as comb honey and the beekeeper has to start again.) 6. The beekeeper then removes the filled frame and takes it back to his packing factory.

7. The wire is removed from the frame.

8. The comb is cut into eight even sections with a sharp knife.

9. Each section is lifted into a box and a lid is placed on top.

19/0107jb13482 cap2 The product is then cleaned and labelled for sale.

11. The frame from which the comb was cut from then has to be cleaned with very hot water.

12. It is then re-wired.

13. It is then re-waxed.

14. The frame is then placed back in the hive.

This way of producing cut comb or comb honey only allows one to produce up to eight sections of comb honey at a time.

The way that comb honey is produced in Australia at present consumes a lot of space in hives. Use of a product on the market called Ross Rounds loses about of the hive's productivity due to gaps in the spaces between the Ross Rounds and the facts that a full bee super must be used. This cuts down on productivity as not all the Rounds are filled by the bees.

The serving of comb honey at the table is often inconvenient and messy.

Efforts to overcome that have included the use of cassettes such as those described in US Patents 4,329,749, 4,435,865 and 4,639,962. According to these US Patents the cassettes are stackable in "face-to-base" horizontal arrays and disposed in a super.

While this permits bees to fill each cassette with comb and honey to a uniform depth across the full width of each cassette, it does impose significant constraints on how a hive may be set up for the manufacture of honey and comb honey. A further disadvantage is that one has to remove the cassettes one by one from the super to check on the degree of filling and then re-insert those cassettes which have not been filled satisfactorily with comb honey.

It is an object of the present invention to ameliorate the foregoing disadvantages.

DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION According to one aspect of the present invention there is provided an apparatus for facilitating the growing and production of comb honey including a frame to receive and releasably hold side-by-side in at least one planar array at least a first plurality of cassette bases adapted to promote the production of comb honey by bees, said frame being capable of being suspended in a bee hive box in place of a 19/01/07jb 15482 cap.3 -4conventional frame, said frame including a web having two opposed planar surfaces, at least one of said planar surfaces being provided with means to releasably retain said cassette bases.

Preferably said web is opaque.

Preferably both of said opposed planar surfaces are provided with said means to releasably retain said cassette bases.

Said means to releasably retain said cassette bases may include projections to receive and engage registering indentations provided on said cassette bases.

Preferably said opposed planar surfaces of the web are surrounded by flanges or shoulders extending perpendicularly to at least one of said opposed planar surfaces. More preferably said flanges or shoulders extend perpendicularly to both said opposed planar surfaces. Still more preferably said flanges or shoulders form a wall extending around at least one of said opposed planar surfaces. Still more preferably said flanges or shoulders form a wall extending around both said planar surfaces.

Said frame is also provided with means to enable it to be suspended within a bee hive in a manner similar to a conventional frame. Preferably this may take the form of shoulders or flanges extending laterally of said opposed planar surfaces of the web to such an extent that the shoulders or flanges can rest on shoulders provided on the inner sides of opposed side walls of a bee hive box but still permit a lid to be placed on said bee hive box.

Preferably the frame when holding at least a first plurality of cassette bases occupies no more space than a conventional frame.

The cassette bases are box like with a bottom wall and opposed pairs of side walls defining a cavity in which comb honey can be deposited. Preferably, the cassette bases are transparent and the inner side of the bottom wall of each cassette base is adapted to promote the production of comb and comb honey. Such adaptation may take the form of embossing of appropriately sized hexagonal patterning on the inner side of the bottom wall of each cassette base.

19/01/07jb 15482 cap,4 Each of said cassette bases is adapted to be individually covered with a cassette lid and to be removed from said frame with comb honey formed within being retained intact.

In use the cassette bases are positioned side-by-side in a planar array within the confines of the frame. The cassette bases may be held releasably in place in the frame by mating pegs and holes or hollows, by snap-lock means, by press-clip means, or other known releasable holding means.

Lids for the cassette bases are similar to conventional box lids having a top wall and opposed pairs of side walls. The cassette lids are mountable on said cassette bases to provide a secure but relatively easily openable container for comb honey.

Preferably at least one pair of opposed side walls of the cassette lid overlaps at least partially a corresponding pair of opposed side walls of the cassette base. Preferably the other pair of opposed side walls of the cassette lid meet and abut edge-to-edge the corresponding pair of opposed side walls of the cassette base when the cassette lid is fully seated or mounted on the cassette base. Preferably a plurality of slots are provided in the top wall of the cassette lid to receive and engage projections extending upwardly from one or more of the side walls of the cassette base. This is to assist in location of the cassette lid on the cassette base and retention of the cassette lid on the cassette base.

More preferably the cassette lids and cassette base are provided with interacting means to facilitate stacking of closed cassettes one upon another.

At least one clear cover may be placed over the frame and cassette bases and releasably held in place. This is to stop bees from building the comb out to the next frame in the hive and gives the bees a guide on how far to build the comb out. The covered frame is then placed into the hive for the bees to fill the cassette bases with comb and honey.

The beekeeper subsequently inspects the frame to ascertain whether the bees have filled each of the cassette bases and takes the frame back to the factory or processing area. If not all of the cassette bases are fully filled and/or sealed they can be returned in the frame to the bee hive for completion of filling and/or sealing by the bees. Once it has been ascertained that a cassette base has been fully filled 19/01/07jbl5482 satisfactorily with comb honey that cassette base is removed from the frame and a cassette lid is placed on top. Alternatively, the lid may be placed on the cassette base before it is removed from the frame. After cleaning of the outside of the cassette base it is labelled for selling. An empty cassette base is inserted in place of the removed cassette base and the frame is then replaced in the bee hive. In one preferred embodiment up to sixteen sections of comb honey can be produced at one time by using sixteen cassette bases.

It is believed that the invention offers a significant advantage in saving time.

Additionally wastage is reduced because partly filled cassette bases can be returned in the frame to the bee hive alongside empty cassette bases for filling, rather than having to be cleaned out, with concomitant loss of comb honey.

Another perceived advantage is that the invention allows for full use of the frame and full use of bee hive space as the covered frame takes up only about more of the available bee hive space than a conventional frame. This does not impact on the number of frames that can be inserted into a bee hive box, ie, an eight frame bee hive box can still hold seven conventional frames and one covered frame according to the invention.

DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENT In order that the invention be more clearly understood, a preferred embodiment is now described with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Figure 1 is a perspective view of a bee hive box provided with conventional frames for honey production and comb honey production according to prior art; Figure 2 is an exploded perspective view of a frame containing cassette bases, and covers according to a preferred embodiment of the invention; Figure 3 depicts an expanded perspective view of a portion of the tray of the preferred embodiment and a cassette base; Figure 4 is a cross-sectional view along the line 4-4 of Figure 2; Figure 5 is a perspective view of a tray of the preferred embodiment; 19/01/07jb15482 cap.6 -7- Figure 6 is a schematic view of a section through one end of a bee hive box containing one frame and containing pluralities of cassettes according to the preferred embodiment; Figure 7 is a perspective view of a cassette base and cassette lid when separated; Figure 8 is a perspective view of a cassette base with cassette lid attached thereto; Figure 9 is an exploded perspective view of a frame containing cassette bases and covers according to another embodiment of the invention.

In Figure 1 the numeral 10 designates generally a bee hive box containing a number of conventional frames on which bees can build comb honey. One of those frames, designated by numeral 12, is shown lifted from the box 10. The frame is constructed from wooden elements 14, 16, 18 and contains comb honey 20. As can be seen the comb honey is formed in a substantially continuous layer across the frame, and is not readily divisible into marketable consumer size portions without cutting it out from the frame, subsequently sub-dividing and packaging those portions. It can also be seen that frame 12, along with the other frames, can be suspended in bee hive box 10. In such circumstances, the outer portions 22 of wooden element 16 rest on upper edges 24 of the sides of bee hive box In Figures 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 9 the numeral 26 designates generally a frame according to a preferred embodiment of the invention. Preferably frame 26 is constructed from suitable plastics material and adapted to fit within and be held releasably within a bee hive box in the manner similar to a conventional frame.

Advantageously, the frame is opaque.

Frame 26 contains a rectangular web 28 (partially shown in Figure 3) surrounded on all edges by flanges or shoulders 30, 32, 34, 36 which extend perpendicularly to the planar surfaces 38, 40 (shown in Figure 4) of web 28. Lugs 42, 44 formed by outermost laterally extending portions of upper flange or shoulder 32 permit the frame to be suspended in a bee hive box by resting on its upper side edges in a manner akin to that shown in Figure 1. Flanges or shoulders 30 and 34 decrease in height in a descending stepwise fashion. This is to assist in removal of comb 19/01107jb15482 cap.

7 honey filled cassette bases from the frame. Each of the planar surfaces 38, 40 is provided with a plurality of pegs 46 protruding therefrom which in use engage releasably corresponding holes 48 in the underside of cassette bases 50. Frame 26 can hold a maximum of sixteen cassette bases 50 in planar arrays, eight on each side of the frame.

A cassette base 50 as depicted in Figures 2, 3, 7, 8 and 9, consists of a square bottom wall 52 and upwardly extending side walls 54, 56, 58, 60. The cassette base 50 is square so that the cassette bases can be placed in either of two orientations with respect to frame 26. The cassette base 50 is transparent and is moulded from plastics material. The upper surface 62 of bottom wall 52 is an integrally moulded hexagonally contoured foundation surface. The foundation surface is intended to act in a conventional manner to induce bees to build and fill comb atop thereof. The underside of bottom wall 52 is flat. The opposing pairs of side walls, 54, 58 and 56, differ in height with each of the higher side walls 56 and 60 being provided with upstanding projections 68 to engage corresponding slots 66 in cassette lid 64 as shown in Figures 7 and 8. The length and width dimensions of the cassette base and cassette lid 64 are related so that the cassette lid 64 can be fitted on to the cassette base 50 only in the orientation shown in Figure 8, namely with cassette lid side walls 72 and 76 snugly overlapping cassette base side walls 56 and 60 and with cassette lid side walls 70 and 74 meeting and abutting side walls 54 and 58 of cassette base 50 so that the contents of a honey-filled cassette can be securely contained. Upwardly extending projections 78 and 80 on cassette lid 64 can engage corresponding indentations 82 and 84 in the lower edges of side walls 56 and 60 of an adjacent cassette base 50 to facilitate stacking of closed cassettes.

As shown in Figure 2, transparent covers of plastics material 86 are adapted to cover the cassette bases 50 and frame 26. Cover sides 88, 90 are received in a fitting relationship between the outer sides of flanges or shoulders 30 and 34 and the inner side walls of the bee hive box. The bees can enter the covered frame from above or below. The transparent covers serve to inhibit the building of comb out to the adjoining frame in the hive.

19/01I/07jb 15482 cap.8 -9- In Figure 9 the numeral 92 designates another form of transparent cover of plastics material adapted to cover the cassette bases 50 and frame 26. The upper and lower sides 94, 96 of the transparent covers are received in a fitting relationship between the inner sides of flanges 32 and 36 of the frame 26 and the outer sides of the side walls 56 or 60 of the cassette bases 50. Bees can enter the covered frame from the lateral open sides.

In use the cassette bases 50 are positioned within the confines of the frame 26, and are held releasably in place by mating pegs 46 and hollows 48. Clear covers 86 (or 92) placed over the frame 26 and cassette bases 50 and releasably held in place. The covered frame is then placed into a bee hive box for the bees to fill the cassette bases 50 with comb honey.

The beekeeper subsequently removes the frame 26 from the bee hive box and inspects it to ascertain whether the bees have filled and sealed each of the cassette bases 50 and takes frame 26 back to the factory or processing area. If not all of the cassette bases 50 are satisfactorily filled and/or sealed they can be returned in frame 26 to the bee hive box for completion of filling and/or sealing by the bees.

Once it has been ascertained that a cassette base 50 has been filled and sealed satisfactorily with comb honey that cassette base 50 is removed from frame 26 and a cassette lid 64 is placed on top. Alternatively, cassette lid 64 may be placed on cassette base 50 before it is removed from the frame 26. After cleaning of the outside of the cassette base 50, the cassette is labelled for selling. An empty cassette base is inserted in frame 26 in place of the removed cassette base 50 and frame 26 is then replaced in the bee hive box. Up to sixteen sections of comb honey can be produced at one time by using sixteen cassette bases.

The description of the invention is not intended to limit the invention to the embodiment disclosed. On the contrary, it is intended to cover all alternatives, modifications and equivalents as may be included within the spirit and scope of the invention as described. Those skilled in the art will therefore appreciate that, in light of the present disclosure, various modifications and changes can be made in the particular embodiment exemplified without departing from the scope of the present invention.

19/01/07jb15482 cap.9 Throughout this specification and the claims which follow, unless the context requires otherwise, the word "comprise", and variations such as "comprises" and "comprising", will be understood to imply the inclusion of a stated integer or step or group of integers or steps but not the exclusion of any other integer or step or group of integers or steps.

Any reference to any prior art in the foregoing description is not, and should not be taken as, an acknowledgment of or any form of suggestion that that prior art forms part of the common general knowledge in any country.

19/01/07jbl5482 cap,

Claims (9)

1. An apparatus for facilitating the growing and production of comb honey including a frame to receive and releasably hold side-by-side in at least one planar array at least a first plurality of cassette bases adapted to promote the production of comb honey by bees, said frame being capable of being suspended in a bee hive box in place of a conventional frame, said frame including a web having two opposed planar surfaces, at least one of said planar surfaces being provided with means to releasably retain said cassette bases.

2. An apparatus as claimed in Claim 1 wherein both of said two opposed planar surfaces are provided with means to releasably retain said cassette bases.

3. An apparatus as claimed in either Claim 1 or Claim 2 wherein said means to releasably retain said cassette bases include projections to receive and engage registering indentations provided on said cassette bases.

4. An apparatus as claimed in Claim 1 wherein said opposed planar faces of the web are surrounded by flanges or shoulders extending perpendicularly to at least one of said planar surfaces.

An apparatus as claimed in Claim 4 wherein said flanges or shoulders form a wall extending around at least one of said opposed planar surfaces.

6. An apparatus as claimed in Claim 1 wherein said frame is provided with shoulders or flanges extending laterally of said opposed planar surfaces of the web to such an extent that said shoulders or flanges can rest on shoulders provided on the inner side of opposed said side walls of a bee hive box but still permit a lid to be placed on said bee hive box.

7. An apparatus as claimed in Claim 1 wherein each of said cassette bases comprise a box-like container with a bottom wall and opposed pairs of side walls defining a cavity within which comb honey can be deposited.

8. An apparatus as claimed in Claim 7 wherein said cassette bases are transparent and the inner side of the bottom wall of each cassette base is adapted to promote the production of comb and comb honey. 19/01/07jb 15482 cap, I I -12-

9. An apparatus as claimed in Claim 8 wherein the inner side of the bottom wall of each cassette base is embossed with hexagonal patterning sized to promote the production of comb and comb honey. An apparatus claimed in any one of Claims 7 to Claim 9 wherein each of said cassette bases is adapted to be individually covered with a cassette lid and to be removed from said frame with comb honey formed within being retained intact. 19/01/07jb15482 cap.12